State Inspectors Have Not Checked PTI Bag Scales In Years

GREENSBORO, N.C. - You have to do your job every day. But 2 Wants To Know discovered state workers didn't do their job and it could have cost you money. For the last three years state inspectors haven't checked the luggage scales at PTI airport to make sure they are accurate.

The state apologizes for the three year lag saying it lost one of the two Triad area inspectors because of budget cuts and another was promoted to another position. When the state hired a replacement - managers failed to tell the new inspector to check the Triad airport.

Because of 2 Wants To Know's findings, the Department of Weights and Measures sent an inspector out to do a spot check Wednesday. He found no problems. That could be because most airlines do their own checks even though the state isn't watching.

Still records from the Raleigh and Charlotte airports stress the importance of regular state inspections. According to both airports' inspection records, the scales weighed wrong 46 times since 2009. Of those 46, the scales added pounds to the bags 25 times. Fliers could have paid extra fees unnecessarily. The worst offender: A US Airway's scale in Charlotte. It added four-and-a-half-pounds to a bag. That's about equal to two pairs of shoes.

The inspector at PTI only had time to inspect a few scales. A full team will check every scale in the airport by February 2014. We'll be making sure that happens.

In the meantime weigh your bag at home first. If it's different on the scale here at the airport - the inspector says ask the ticket agent to weigh your bag on a second scale to make sure.